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16 Jun 2013

How to make the most of your internship (and get one!)

Someone needs to re-motivate themselves to blog, ey?!

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently interned four weeks at Company magazine, hence the lack of posts. The experience was fantastic and I did my best to make the most of the four weeks there, and after spending my days writing web stories and researching the Interwebz, I have to admit blogging was the last thing I wanted to do.

But since it's now finished, I figured I'd share a few internship tips from my work experience on the Features desk at Company... Who knows, some of you might be interested?

- Make sure your CV is free of spelling mistakes and up to date. Simple but necessary.

- When writing out cover letters, always adapt them to whoever you're sending them to. That includes the person you're adressing, but also the company you want to intern with. Do some research, show you know what they do and insist on why you are the right person for this particular placement. I'd also advise to be a bit audacious with the letter if the company allows it: make jokes, send a hand-written letter, make a video... Something to get you noticed, without going past the limits.

- Yay, you got the internship! Now, make yourself heard. You want to make the most of your time there, be useful, and hopefully be remembered. So if you have an idea, share it! If you have an opinion that you believe to be interesting/critical/original on an issue, speak up. Ask if you can be credited for things you did. Be polite and remember you don't know everything, but show you're not just a plant pot.

- Always do something. If you're at a loss for things to do, let others know you're available. They probably could use some help, and it would be a shame for you to waste your internship by staring blankly into nothingness.

- When given something to do, take notes. It'll help your figure out where to start, and will avoid having to ask people to constantly repeat stuff...

- ...But do ask questions if you don't know how to do things! Better ask once and do it than try a million of things that don't work and waste everyone's time.

- Internship over, sad face! Still got ideas? Keep in touch with the company, make yourself available and suggest things you could do for them.

- Get your hands on the July 2013 issue of Company and read Alexxsia Elizabeth's feature 'How to be a good intern.' Pretty much sums up what not/to do.

Some of these might be more applicable to internships in the media than in other domains, but I think the general idea is valid. One thing's for sure: by doing that, I definitely made the most of my internship and had an absolute blast while learning a lot. You can have a look at some things I wrote for the website here, here and in here. And you can even see my face on the website! :)